To the editor:

George Bush has sown the seeds of financial ruin and irresponsibility in the United States since he assumed the office of the president in 2001.

The projected deficit for this year is upwards of $455 billion. Remember the surpluses we had under Clinton? The Cato Institute, hardly a liberal outfit, calls George Bush “the mother of all big spenders.” In fact, George W. Bush’s father said that “there is no practice more dangerous than that of borrowing money.” Why hasn’t his son listened?

The unemployment rate has passed 6 percent, with 8.8 million Americans out of work. To compare, under Bush, the economy has lost an average of 69,000 jobs a month. Under Clinton, the economy gained an average of 239,000 jobs per month. Which record do you prefer?

The states are running record deficits. In normal times, the federal government would aid them, but this time, only an emergency $20 billion (to be distributed among all 50) was included in the budget, and only because the Democrats insisted on it.

We must demand a change in leadership in 2004, or things could only get worse for average working class Americans! Enough of partisan scare-tactics which draw attention away from the No. 1 threat to America; our crashing economy.

Alex Tsatsoulis,

Lawrence